


Every Time

by queenpenthesilea



Series: Endgame Doesn't Mean 'The End' [3]
Category: Captain America (Movies), Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Incredible Hulk (2008), Thor (Movies)
Genre: M/M, Multi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-22
Updated: 2019-05-22
Packaged: 2020-03-09 10:18:20
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,223
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18914950
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/queenpenthesilea/pseuds/queenpenthesilea
Summary: Two warnings: 1) This work contains Endgame spoilers! read at your own risk! and 2) The first part of this series has a twist that will definitely be spoiled, both if you read this summary and if you read this work first. If you intend to read part one and don't want a major spoiler, I recommend you stop reading this summary now :)Tony's lived hundreds of lives. He's saved so many universes, and he's happy to do it - really, he is - butgodhe's so tired of pretending he's someone else. But it's okay, he'll get through it - he's Tony Fucking Stark, after all. But then his new universe just had to go and throw something unexpected at him.Set in the universe from Endgame where Loki has just disappeared with the Tesseract and Steve's future-self just told his past-self Bucky's alive. (and Tony just sent himself into cardiac arrest bc he has no sense of self-preservation istg.)





	Every Time

**Author's Note:**

> Hi everyone!! So this is a copy-paste of the note before part 2 of this series, feel free to skip if you've read it already. This might be a slightly long note - this is mostly intended to explain the organization in order to prevent confusion, so feel free to skip it if you don't care or don't need the explanation!!
> 
> So here's the way I'm going to try to do this - this is the first of 3 spin-off fic collections. The three fic collections are going to be 1) the other timelines AFTER Original!Tony has left; 2) the other timelines WHILE original Tony is there fixing things; and 3) the original timeline once Original!Tony gets back.
> 
> With the first two collections, I'll try to make it clear which timeline they're in by keeping a list of the timelines here in the notes of chapter 1 and telling you in the chapter summaries which timeline is being used. Some of the timelines have been getting multiple requests that won't fit in 1 one-shot, so those may end up in more than one chapter!
> 
> Alright, so without further adieu, here are the timelines:
> 
> Timeline #1 - Tony's original timeline from the Endgame movie.
> 
> Timeline #2 - the timeline written in Two More Miracles.
> 
> Timeline #3 - the timeline where Pepper and Morgan both died referenced in TMM.
> 
> Timeline #4 - the timeline where Pepper married Happy and had boy!Morgan, and Tony and Steve married referenced in TMM.
> 
> Timeline #5 - the timeline where Steve died in Wakanda referenced in TMM.
> 
> Timeline #6 - the timeline where Loki stole the Tesseract and disappeared from the Endgame movie.
> 
> Timeline #7 - (not referenced anywhere) a timeline where Tony had retired after CACW.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This entire work is based on Timeline #6 in the TMM multiverse WHILE Original!Tony is there trying to fix it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HI GUYS SO GUESS WHO LIED TO HERSELF.
> 
> So you know how I said I'd have 'outtakes' for the Two More Miracles multiverse? Welp, I had an idea for THIS particular branch of the TMM multiverse, so it's getting its own fic. This fic will be entirely dedicated to 'timeline #6', the one from the Endgame movies where Future!Tony, Steve, and Scott just Fucked Up Real Bad and Loki escaped with the Tesseract. Steve just kicked his own ass, Tony just gave himself a heart attack (??? idk how the arc reactor works, that bitch is not a pacemaker so ??? ), and basically this is the aftermath.
> 
> This is written WHILE Original!Tony is there, from Original!Tony's POV. Please let me know if you're confused and I can try to explain better??? Idk, this is the best way I can figure out how to explain this but yeah I'm bad at explaining things.
> 
> ANYWAY, I hope you enjoy.
> 
> Also!! If you're reading my other work, RIG, I swear I'll get to writing it. The next chapter is being a lil bitch and I'm taking a fuck ton of practice tests for my upcoming Big Exam, so I haven't had the brainpower to fight with it. I'll get to it ASAP, promise!!

Tony officially resented himself for having told Lang to yank out a wire in his arc reactor – it hurt like a bitch, as he was having the distinct pleasure of finding out. 

“You’re sure you’re okay, Tony?” Cap was asking for the, like, millionth time as he and Bruce hovered over where they’d forced him to lie down in his bed, and Tony rolled his eyes. He _hated_ being the bedridden invalid, especially unnecessarily.

“I’m fine, Capsicle, I swear. Seriously, you guys are mother-henning me to death, I _have_ been taking care of myself for a few years now and I’ve been just fine,” he responded grumpily.

A snort came from where the Spy Twins and the Pirate were conversing in low tones in the corner. “That’s debatable, Stark,” Natasha said drily, and Tony lazily flipped her off.

“Rude. I’m alive, aren’t I?”

“I might have to side with Natasha on this one,” Bruce said with his cute little shy smile that made Tony just wanna snatch him up and snuggle him to death. He fake-gasped, clutching his chest (which, _ow_ , bad idea Tony).

“Brucie bear, you traitor! And here I was going to offer you a place to stay, a roof over your head, the most badass lab of all time,” he lamented dramatically, and Bruce gave him an exasperated look.

“Tony – “

“That goes for all of you, actually,” Tony offered, looking around the room. “Well, not the badass lab part. Unless you want one, I guess. But there’s rooms for anyone who needs one here, if you want to stick around. Thor, too, once he comes back from trying to find his dear, darling, murderous baby brother.”

“I actually – I think I need to go for a while,” Steve said, and Bruce blinked at him. Charlie’s Angels didn’t react, but they’d probably had all of the emotions drained out of them in their super-secret-spy-initiation-ceremony that they insisted wasn’t real, which only made Tony all the more convinced that it _was_.

“So soon?” Bruce asked mildly, and Steve nodded, looking hesitant.

“Loki…Loki said something when he was pretending to be me. He said…he said that Bucky’s alive.” The Captain looked around the room, and Tony tried to school his face into some facsimile of surprise; it got harder and harder to act like certain semi-constants were a revelation in each universe, but it would be _incredibly_ suspicious for Tony Stark to know Bucky Barnes was with HYDRA right now. Bruce just looked confused, and Morpheus, Neo, and Trinity were still using their super-secret-spy powers to pretend they didn’t have emotions. Steve rushed to continue, his face awash with a mixture of doubt and tentative hope. “He was probably just lying to try to distract me so he could escape, but I just, I have to _make sure_.”

“Sure thing, Cap,” Tony said cheerfully, and Steve gave him a surprised look. Tony shrugged, knowing what he’d do if Rhodey had been in Barnes’s place. He wouldn’t have told 117 countries to fuck off without good reason, but he’d definitely have worked with the authorities to search to the ends of the universes, just as Rhodey had done for him when he was in Afghanistan. “He’s your best friend. Just keep in contact and let us know if you need help. JARVIS can set you up with an encrypted phone with everyone’s numbers pre-programmed in, if you want.”

And now Steve was really looking astonished. Tony couldn’t help but feel a little irritated; yeah, they may not have hit it off on the helicarrier, but that didn’t mean he was going to be an ass to America’s Ass. He’d never been sure what had happened to make Steve dislike him so much right from the start, but he’d dealt with far more grating, aggravating people in his years as a businessman. Next to that, being polite to Steve wasn’t even a challenge to handle. “Thanks, Tony,” Steve finally responded, and Tony just nodded, shifting to get comfortable in his entirely-too-squishy bed.

“I think we’re going to head out, too,” Fury said, indicating himself and the Spy Twins. Tony nodded, unsurprised. “Come by my office tomorrow, though, Stark. We need to discuss your role with the Avengers Initiative.”

And with that, the spies swept out of the room, Steve giving Tony and Bruce an awkward wave and following. Tony let out a long breath, feeling some of the tension leave his shoulders; this world’s Tony was much more suspicious of SHIELD and Fury’s motives than _he’d_ been, and having them invade his room like that had been a bit much. He felt lighter now that they were gone, and he turned to Bruce with a smile. “You’re still welcome to stay if you want. I’m wiped so I’m probably just gonna pass out, but JARVIS can direct you to a room, and you can stick around as long as you’d like.”

Bruce was looking at him with a mixture of uncertainty and doubt, hesitating, and Tony waited patiently for whatever question was on the tip of the man’s tongue. “Why?” he asked finally, and Tony’s brow furrowed in confusion, so Bruce clarified. “Why are you opening your home to me? You – you’ve seen what I can do. Why would you…?”

A flood of sympathy rushed through Tony; he knew what it was like to believe yourself to be a monster. Moving slowly so Bruce could see his intentions and pull away if he wanted, Tony reached out and grasped Bruce’s hand, meeting his eyes. “What I’ve seen is a guy who put aside what _he_ wanted so he could save the world – and I mean that about _both_ of your forms. I know you didn’t come back from Calcutta because you thought you’d have a blast hanging out with SHIELD; you did it because the world needed you. And you let the Hulk out because the world needed him. I’ve seen a hero and a good man, Dr. Banner.” Bruce was staring at him, looking a mixture of touched and – oh shit, were those tears? Tony was allergic to tears. He made his voice light, grinning impishly at Bruce. “Plus, the big guy likes me, so I’m not too worried.”

Phew, now Bruce was just looking at him with exasperation again, with a hint of – was that fondness? Awww, cute. He remembered when Rhodey and Pepper were still in the ‘fond’ stage and not the ‘I swear to God if you don’t stop that right now, I’m going to murder you, Tony’ stage of their friendship. There was a pretty quick turnaround between the two, he’d discovered.

“So,” Tony prompted. “I’m gonna sleep, but you should stay, if you want to. Just let JARVIS know. And if you decide you’d rather head out, JARVIS can set you up with a plane and some money for your travels, if you need it.”

Bruce blinked at him, nodded wordlessly and started to leave, but he hesitated in the doorway. “You’re a good man, too, Tony,” he said simply, and then he was gone, shutting the door softly behind him.

Tony let out a small snort. Yeah, people sometimes said that about him at first. There was usually a pretty quick turnaround for _that_ thought process, too.

 

_”How are you settling in this time?”_

_Tony smiled, bumping Natasha’s shoulder with his own and looking out over Vormir. “It gets a little easier every time, I think. It’s always weird in worlds like these when I get dropped back pretty close to the start of everything. I think I prefer it to getting dropped into the world after the first snap, though – everyone’s still hopeful, even if it’s frustrating that I have to start over with convincing people about an impending alien attack.”_

_Natasha nodded, a half-smile on her face. “Doesn’t help that we’re all incredibly stubborn and think we know best.”_

_Tony chuckled. “Sure doesn’t. It’s still weird, though. It gets easier to start over, but it gets harder to hide, ya know?” Natasha hummed her understanding, and Tony got lost in his thoughts for a moment, memories of the last few worlds swirling in his head, thinking about how hard he’d had to work to maintain the mask of 40-ish-year-old human, how he’d had to duck people who peered too closely into his eyes when they spotted the age within, how difficult it had become to push down thousands of years of existence to keep anyone from noticing how_ old _he was. It was...it was wearing on him, more than he'd ever admit. He was happy to be doing what he was doing, of course - but to pretend over and over again that he hadn't had hundreds of years of history with the people he interacted with? To pretend that he hadn't seen them die in unimaginable ways? Seen them cry countless tears over their dead loved ones? It was...it was tiring. He was tired. He was tired of pretending, but the multiverse needed him, so it didn't matter._

 _He fell silent, and a comfortable silence fell between them while he thought, then Tony made a thoughtful noise. “So you’re_ in _the Soul stone, right? Along with everyone else who’s ever been a sacrifice?”_

_Natasha nodded, looking at him quizzically, uncertain where he was going with this line of questioning._

_“Have you met Gamora?” he asked curiously, glancing at her. “Nebula’s mentioned her in some of the timelines in that nonchalant way that means someone is really important to her.”_

_“A few times, yes,” Natasha responded, eyes twinkling slightly dangerously, and Tony was suddenly fervently glad that he couldn’t be there for those encounters. If Gamora was anywhere as deadly as Nebula and in the same vicinity as Natasha? Well, Tony supposed there was_ some _advantage to all the residents of the stone already being beyond harm. Not that he didn’t think Natasha could figure out a way around that if the situation called for it; Tony was willing to bet there were a fair few scumbags who’d been sacrificed by scummier bags contained in the Soul stone._

_“Should I offer to pass a message between them when I get back to my own timeline?” Tony asked finally, and Natasha regarded him thoughtfully._

_“Maybe. I can ask Gamora what she thinks.” Tony hummed in response._

_“Are you happy?” he asked suddenly, and Natasha was quiet. After the silence had stretched for a while, he turned to look at her, seeing her staring out over the never-changing landscape, the once-mesmerizing sky rote in its steadfast broken kaleidoscope._

_“I’m content,” she responded, and he frowned._

_“That’s not exactly a ringing endorsement.” She smiled, soft and sad._

_“No, no it’s not.”_

_He was quiet for a moment. “I could use my wish to bring you back,” he offered finally, and she stilled beside him._

_“No.” She waved off his protests before he could utter them, turning to pin him with a hard-eyed stare. “That’s not how it works, Tony. I belong to the Soul stone now – that’s what my sacrifice meant.”_

_Tony made a small, pained noise. “But maybe they would let you go if, if I asked.”_

_Natasha reached for his hand, squeezing it comfortingly. “No, they wouldn’t. They can’t, not without upsetting their very nature. But don’t worry, Tony – I’m content being here, watching over all of you. I’m never bored, that’s for sure.” Her voice turned light and teasing at the end, trying to induce levity that Tony couldn’t quite force himself to feel, even for her sake._

_“Sure, of course, Nat. As long as – “_

 

With an unceremoniously brutal _yank_ , Tony was pulled out of the dreamscape, eyes flying open.

“What the hell?” He swore, pushing himself upright in his bed. The room was dark, the only light filtering in through the windows and trickling over a too-silent room; normally, that small amount of light was a comfort, but the sudden wakeup call cast shadows in an ominous grey, the silence a strange oppressive blanket.

And wait – the silence _was_ strange, because it was _never_ silent when he woke up.

“JARVIS?” Tony called out tentatively, a slight prickle of worry teasing through him. 

“Your bodiless servant is not present at the moment,” a familiar voice drawled, and Tony blinked as Loki’s form seemed to assemble from the shadows, the god stepping forward with an air of smug arrogance. 

“Neat trick,” Tony commented, body relaxing at the sight. Loki eyed him, confusion clouding his expression at the reaction, and Tony cocked an eyebrow. “As long as you didn’t permanently harm him, we’re cool.”

And now Loki looked _really_ confused, the imperiousness in his tone not quite able to cover his puzzlement. “We’re…’cool’? I threw you from a window mere hours ago, Stark.”

Tony snorted, swinging his legs over the side of the bed and clicking on the bedside lamp, throwing the room into soft lighting. “Yeah, that was rude, especially after I’d offered you a drink and tried to make you welcome in my home and everything.” He stood up, crossing to a dresser and pulling on a second shirt to hide the glow of the arc reactor – _he_ may feel more comfortable with Loki after many, _many_ universes of learning just what Thanos had done to force the god’s cooperation, but this universe’s Tony was still very guarded about the reactor, and it soothed that part of his brain to have an extra layer between it and Loki, flimsy though that layer may be. Loki tracked the movement, expression guarded, but the furrow in his brow told Tony that the god had no idea what to make of Tony’s apparent lack of concern.

“But you didn’t,” Loki said finally, and some of that haughtiness had drained away in the wake of his befuddlement.

Tony huffed. “Just because you didn’t _feel_ welcome – “

“No, Stark. _You_ didn’t, your _other_ self did.”

And now Tony was the one left surprised. “Excuse me?”

Loki eyed him, regaining some of his confidence at the realization that he’d managed to catch the engineer off guard, chin lifting and eyes flashing green. “You are not the Stark who offered me that drink. You are a _different_ Stark,” the god said, his voice silky as he paced closer to Tony, and Tony folded his arms over his chest and gave him an impressed look.

“Well I’ll be. None of your other selves have figured that out before,” he said, one eyebrow cocked, and Loki’s eyes widened at his admission.

“ _My_ other selves?”

Tony grinned. “C’mon, Rock of Ages, did you really think if there could be more than one of Tony Stark, one of the most original people to ever exist, there wouldn’t be more than one of you?” he challenged, and his grin widened at the irritation creeping into Loki’s expression. Ah, needling Loki; how he’d missed it. Waving a hand, Tony gestured to the door that led into the penthouse sitting room. “Why don’t you have a seat? Sounds like we need to talk.”

Loki gave him a long, measuring look, eyes piercing, before Tony could see him come to a decision. “You will tell me everything, Stark,” he ordered, then swept out the door with a dramatic flair of his cape. Rolling his eyes at the theatrics ( _yes_ , he was aware that was hypocritical of him), Tony followed him. Loki had already spread out on the couch when Tony entered, lounging as though it was _his_ home that he’d invited _Tony_ into instead of being a semi-hostile invasion on his part. Tony dropped into the seat across from him, leaning onto his elbows.

“So, what do you know?” Tony asked, eyebrow raised in invitation.

“Oh, no no, Stark – this is where _you_ tell _me_ what you know,” Loki drawled, and Tony rolled his eyes again. Was this how other people felt when dealing with _him_?

“We’d be here all year,” Tony responded calmly, letting all pretense, all his masks and disguises drop from his expression, allowing the weight of a thousand lives, of a hundred lifetimes, of countless losses fill his eyes. It was a look that he knew showed him to be something _other_ than the baseline human he appeared to be, that showed just how _different_ he’d become – and Loki could see it, too, staring at him with an inscrutable expression for a long moment. 

“You are not what you appear to be,” he stated, the words simple but the look in his eyes steadily growing more dangerous. And then Tony was bound by green light, cords wrapping around his wrists, curling around him, binding him to his seat. Tony didn’t even flinch, just meeting Loki’s eyes with an unruffled expression. “ _What are you_?” the god hissed, standing in one fluid, violent motion and advancing on Tony. He gripped Tony’s chin punishingly tight, tilting the engineer’s head back and glaring down at him. “You are not a human. Did the Mad Titan send you? What did you do with Tony Stark?” Tony remained silent, calm and unperturbed, which only seemed to incense Loki further. “ _Answer me or you shall not like what happens to you_.”

“I’m not exactly happy about what’s happening to me right now,” Tony said mildly. “Don’t get me wrong, I don’t mind a little light bondage, but only when all parties are consenting and when there are considerably fewer death threats.”

“I have not issued a death threat, imposter,” Loki snarled, and Tony shrugged.

“Threats of harm, then,” he said idly, unconcerned. Loki’s eyes narrowed, incensed and simultaneously baffled as to why someone who registered still as a baseline human was so unafraid in the face of a god’s rage. “Now, if you’d like to have a _civilized conversation_ , you can release me from this and have a seat and tell me what you know so I know what all I need to catch you up on.”

Loki stared at him, eyes hard and furious, but Tony’s expression remained smooth and unworried. With a snarl, he whirled away and sat back on the couch, the green holding Tony dissolving away. Tony shifted, offering the god a small smile that was only _slightly_ mocking.

“Alright, so let’s try this again, shall we? What do you know?”

Loki glared at him, jaw clenching. “You are not the Tony Stark I met this afternoon,” he said abruptly. “Your entire being _feels_ different, but not _entirely_ different. You are Tony Stark, but you are not. I do not know – I have not felt this before. You are no shapeshifter, and, even if you were, shapeshifters retain their own body signature – they do not feel like the people whose forms they take. You are different but the same. I am not sure _what_ you are.”

And his tone was frustrated in a way that Tony was intimately familiar with; it was the same kind of frustration Tony experienced when he was trying to solve an issue in his lab and one of the variables was being particularly stubborn. He could sympathize with that feeling of irritated _need_ to solve a problem.

“You’re right,” Tony responded, deciding to put the poor god out of his misery. Loki’s eyes pierced his, silent and attentive. Tony grinned, broad and challenging. “Well, Lokes, what have you heard about the multiverse?”


End file.
